For the Rest of His Life
by quarterlifecrisis
Summary: THANKS SO MUCH for the reviews! Takes place on the ship back home after the final duel between Yugi and Atem. Hope the characters are not too OOC! Please read and review. Azureshipping, rated to be safe. Complete. I do not own Yugioh.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hey all. This is my first fanfic and I'm super nervous about it! :X Please read and review, but no flames please. Concrit is appreciated. This story takes place right after the end of the final duel between Yugi and Atem when the gang is heading back home on the ship that brought them. I hope the characters aren't too OOC, I really tried to stay true, especially Kaiba. Anyway, enjoy and don't forget to review! Thanks so much.

Seto Kaiba stared at the screen of his laptop, wishing the words in the document he was reading would stop blurring together. He glanced at the clock in the bottom corner of the screen. 1:27 am. With a deep sigh, he closed the page since it was obvious that his brain had finally caught up to his tired body and was ready to sleep. It was just as well. He hadn't been able to concentrate on work anyway. After everything that had happened today, or well yesterday technically, with Yugi Moto and his alter ego, Seto's mind was still grappling with the notion that the little runt had dueled and beaten an ancient Egyptian spirit who had inhabited the boy's body for the past four years. Seto shook his head. It hurt to even think about it.

Glancing across the room to where his little brother slept soundly in the large bed, Seto was reassured to hear Mokuba's soft snore, though all he could see of the kid was a lump in the blankets topped by wild black hair. As always, his brother's inherent innocence brought a ghost of a smile to Seto's lips. Pushing his long fingers through his own chocolate locks, he looked at the security video monitor that displayed all of the common areas of the ship that was taking the hodge-podge group home. Everyone seemed to be in their rooms and the ship appeared quiet. He stood and stretched his long arms over his head, trying to work out the various knots in his shoulders, when he noticed a shadow in one of the camera images. Peering closer, he saw Yugi's little cheerleader, Tea, sitting in the galley by a window, the moonlight casting her shadow on the floor behind her. _What in the world would she be doing up at this hour?_ Seto paused. _Like I care._ He turned off the monitors and removed his long white trench coat. Methodically, he began taking off his various buckles and belts and unbuttoned his black silk shirt, untucking it from his black leather pants. _Why __**is**__ she down there by herself? _It was unlike the little friendship-obsessed female to be without at least one of her posse of twits. _She took it pretty hard when the Pharaoh went back to the Afterlife. _The irony of his even entertaining such an outrageous thought was not lost on him. _Why do I care if she's down there without her friends, probably crying over the one she lost?_ He didn't. It would do that girl some good to be away from those idiots for a while and learn to deal with the hardships of life on her own. But as he stood there, Seto could not get the image of her out of his mind. How many times had Tea helped his brother? How often did Mokuba sing her praises? _And how often had she told me off over the years? _Gritting his teeth, Seto stalked out of his stateroom to go check on an annoying cheerleader who would probably bite his head off as soon as she saw him.

Seto approached the galley, not bothering to hide his annoyance as he stomped down the narrow corridor. _Stupid cheerleader._ He stepped into the doorway and stopped in his tracks. The scene before him brought a strange feeling to his chest. The lights were off, bright moonlight providing more than enough illumination. The effect was like an old black and white movie. There sat the girl, the beautiful star, on a stool staring wistfully out the window at the sea. Her dark curtain of hair was pulled into a messy bun at her nape, allowing the moonlight to caress the soft curves of her face. Her eyes, those large oceanic eyes that normally spit fire and spirit at him, were unfocused and dull. She probably didn't even see the waves or the night sky. She was just staring vacantly, her mind obviously miles away, probably on a not-too-distant island where she'd left her Pharaoh. Seto just stood there, feeling a surge of uncharacteristic sympathy and protectiveness for her. She didn't appear to be crying, yet she looked so very vulnerable. Normally, it was in his nature to take advantage of such blatant weakness but as he looked at her, he wanted to offer her comfort. _I'm losing my mind. _Seto Kaiba did not offer comfort to anyone. Even Mokuba only received gruff reminders to toughen up when he was troubled. Yes, being a workaholic must have finally caught up with Seto, for as he stood there he wanted nothing more than to go to Tea; to touch her chin with his fingertips until she met his gaze and to tell her everything would be alright. And when a soft sigh escaped her lips, he wondered what it would feel like if she did that against his own. So deep into the fantasy he took several steps toward her before he realized what he was doing. _Snap out of it idiot._ Since when did he let some girl tug his heartstrings and turn him into a sentimental fool? _Never!_ Angry at himself and at her, Seto crossed the room and stood looming above her. She didn't even look up. Even angrier now, he began to growl at her.

"What are you doing?!"

He was satisfied with her surprised shriek. She looked up at him with a shocked expression, her blue eyes wide and her mouth open. _Better than that blank stare, anyway._ It was enough to keep him going.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?! What kind of idiot woman sits in the dark all by herself in the middle of the night?! Haven't you learned by now that things like that are dangerous?! Not to mention, stupid!"

That seemed to snap her out of her shock. Her eyes narrowed, filled with the spirit he was used to seeing from her. She huffed and stood to face him, all hellfire and fury.

"Kaiba! How dare you yell at me like that when you're the one sneaking around! I wasn't bothering anyone and I know everyone on this ship! The only one being an idiot that I can see is YOU!"

And with that, Seto's anger evaporated. He tried to hold onto it, but it just vanished. In truth, he had been worried that nothing would wake her back up from whatever funk she was in. He still couldn't figure out why he seemed to care so much, but if there was one thing Seto Kaiba trusted, it was his instincts. And right now, they were telling him that she was spoiling for a fight to release some of her mixed emotions. He smirked at her. That always seemed to goad her in an argument.

"Look, if you want to sit around moping, do it in your room where no one has to witness it. It's pathetic, really."

"What would you know about losing someone you care about, Kaiba? You're a cold-hearted jerk who cares for no one but himself! What would you know about grief?"

Tears were pooling in her eyes as her voice cracked on the last word. He took her insults in stride, knowing she needed to vent. He waited for her to break down crying, as most females would do, begging for pity that he would not give. But of course, Tea was not most females. She stood there stiff and proud in defiance of him, never letting her tears fall. Seto knew she would never humiliate herself in front of him. Never sob all over him. Though she had appeared frail before, she had an iron will that refused to give him any power over her. He respected her for that, however grudgingly.

Seto turned to leave. He knew Tea wasn't about to throw herself overboard or anything. She had come here to seek peace and he would leave her to it. He glanced over his shoulder as he came to the doorway, just to check on her one more time. She was sitting down on the stool again, but instead of gazing out the window, her head was down, shoulders slumped, as though the weight of her mourning was more than she could bear now that she had uttered it out loud. With the moonlight shining behind her, he saw a twinkle drop from her face to the floor. Just one tear. For a man Seto practically hated. It should have made him angry…that she should cry for the Pharaoh now when Seto had purposely tried to hurt her just moments ago. But for some reason, that wave of sympathy hit him again. He should just keep walking. He was tired and needed to go to bed. He needed to keep walking away from her.

He couldn't.

Seto strode back to where Tea sat and knelt before her. Not really knowing what to do, he reached up and drew his knuckles along her cheek, wiping away moisture. She jerked her head up, gasping. Her eyes flew wide again and she looked to Seto like a frightened doe. _She must think I've lost my mind. She's probably right._ His hand lingered against the soft skin of her face. He waited for her to freak out on him and slap him away. But she just sat there, probably in shock, and stared at him. He met her eyes and though he was no romantic, he could swear there was electricity in the air between them. _What the heck am I doing?!_ He honestly didn't know. Kaiba was not an impulsive person. He always thought everything through to the tiniest detail. But there, in that moment, Seto wanted something he'd never wanted before. He wanted to take this woman into his arms and kiss her. He wanted to hold her, to feel her against him. What would she do if he tried? Would she scream and accuse him of taking advantage of her? Or was she caught in the same moonlit spell as he? She certainly hadn't slapped his hand away from her face, or moved from in front of him. Seto dropped his gaze to her lips and remembered the sigh from earlier. He wanted to feel that. He leaned in close to her, making his intentions very clear, until there was merely a hairsbreadth separating his mouth from hers. He looked up and met her gaze again, and was shaken to his core by what he saw. She wanted this. It was there, in the heat of her heavy-lidded eyes and the breath she held in anticipation. She wanted him to kiss her. _But why?_ His inquisitive and mistrustful mind wanted to know her motivations, but Seto didn't listen to it. He closed the distance between them and brushed his mouth gently against hers. Both of them gasped, but neither pulled away. He repeated the ghost of a kiss again. And again. Until she released another sigh and pressed her lips fully to his. And he knew he'd never forget the feeling as long as he lived.

Sooo......what did you think?


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Wow! Thanks for all the reads and reviews! I'm a bit overwhelmed by the response. Flattered doesn't even begin to cover it! Thanks for the encouragement and the tips. In all honesty, I figured my little story would be lost in fanfic obscurity. There are so many talented authors here and to be counted among them by those who reviewed is an honor. Hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter. Enjoy!

Seto Kaiba stood on the deck of his ship staring pensively out at the ocean. The sea breeze tangled his hair and blew his coat out behind him. With his back straight, legs braced apart, arms crossed over his chest, he hoped he looked intimidating enough to keep the other passengers away from him today. The last thing he wanted was to talk to anyone. He hadn't been able to focus all morning and he really didn't want to say anything stupid, especially after last night. Seto gritted his teeth. Why had he kissed Tea last night? And why couldn't he stop thinking about it? Even now, angry at himself, his thoughts drifted to the picture she had made sitting in the moonlight…

He had gone to her, stared at her, yelled at her. He'd done what was needed to shake her out of her grief over the Pharaoh, while her friends had slept soundly, never knowing her pain. Tea had yelled back at him, convincing him that she would eventually recover. So he'd left her there and gone back to his room, not giving her another thought. He laughed ruefully to himself. _That's how it should have gone anyway._

He still didn't know what had possessed him to turn back and look at her one more time. Whatever it was, it had been his downfall. Seto had seen that one silent tear fall from her face and he'd been lost. He had knelt on the floor in front of her, a position reserved only for Mokuba, and even then only in severe circumstances would he lower himself to look up at another person. Seto Kaiba was known to use his extreme height to his advantage. Towering over people had served him well since hitting puberty and it was a blatant intimidation tactic he had no reservations using. No wonder Tea had been so shocked when he'd made himself vulnerable to her. He had no idea how long they had stared at one another before he had kissed her or how many breaths it had taken her to twist her fingers in his hair to hold him close. One thing he was sure of was that what had started as comfort had quickly turned into something else entirely. Gentle kisses turned hot, wet. And when the tip of her tongue touched his, Seto lost all sense of time and place. His perception had narrowed down to a single point of light; to the girl setting him on fire from the inside out. He had wrapped her in a close embrace, pulling her from the stool to join him kneeling on the floor, their heavy breaths and soft sighs closing them in a cocoon of passion. Trailing his mouth from her lips to her ear, he'd kissed his way down her silky throat and grazed his teeth along her jaw, committing each taste to memory. She'd gasped his name, his first name; her voice had been husky and breathless. He'd crushed her mouth under his again; lips, tongue, teeth his only focus.

And then it was over. She'd wrenched herself out of his arms and fled the room like the devil himself was on her heels. And if Seto hadn't been reeling from the shock of their actions, he just might have been.

Seto shook his head to clear it. He **had** to stop thinking about last night. It had been stupid, thoughtless, idiotic, wonderful, delicious…_STOP!_ Tea Gardener was nothing to him, **nothing**! There were only two things Kaiba cared about: his brother and his company. There was no room for his rival's cheerleader in his life. He didn't want her there. _So why can't I stop thinking about her?_ It was true. As much as he didn't want to think of her, he couldn't get her out of his head. Her lips had branded his skin, her scent and taste clogged his throat, her touch a phantom that refused to dissipate. _She wanted me. Her kisses were just as hungry and desperate as mine. _Yet she had run from him. _What would have happened if she hadn't? _It was impossible to stop the hot shiver that ran over his body at the thought.

"Hey big brother!" Mokuba's bright voice startled Seto out of his reverie just before his little brother crashed into his legs. Luckily, the jolt of the impact hid the fact that Seto hadn't been paying attention to anything and Mokuba had actually caught him off guard.

"Come eat breakfast with everyone, Seto!"

"No."

"Come on, Seto, please!"

The pleading look on his brother's face was more than Seto was able to resist in his current emotional state. He sighed heavily, a sign of acquiescence to Mokuba, who bagan to jump and dance around. Mokuba grabbed his much larger hand and led a sour Seto to the galley where Yugi and the others no doubt waited.

_This should be interesting._

Well…how was that for an update? Repetitive? Boring? Yummy? Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Well, here is chapter three of my supposed one-shot. Didn't really plan on going this far with it, but thanks to reviewers I feel confident enough to continue. Honestly, I have no idea where this will end. It's just coming to me in pieces. I guess we'll see. This one does have a bit of language and a dash of violence, but I think a T rating will still suffice. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and encouragement and enjoy. Oh yeah, and I don't own Yugioh, like I said in the summary. Just thought I'd add it in again.

Seto Kaiba strode into the ship's galley, his usual scowl on his face. He did not want to be here right now with the geek squad, eating breakfast like he was part of their group. Truth be told, he didn't care for any of them. Yugi held his respect because of his dueling skills and Devlin's Dice Monsters game was making Seto money, but they all annoyed him to the point of madness. Wheeler was already wolfing down pancakes at a disgusting pace, whipped cream smeared across his face and Tristan wasn't far behind. They all sat laughing and eating, all of them except Tea. She sat a bit removed from the rest, staring at her plate with her hands clasped in her lap. Was she still thinking about the Pharaoh? Seto saw red at the idea. Tea always focused on her friends and yet there they sat, oblivious to her pain, just like last night. He wasn't sure why that bothered him so much, but it did.

"Hey Kaiba! Great pancakes!"

Seto narrowed his dark eyes on the blond idiot. _One of these days, Wheeler, I'm going to kick your ignorant ass. _For the sake of everyone's safety, Seto clenched his teeth and fought to remain silent. Normally, he would have fired off an insult, but right now he didn't want anyone to know how angry he really was over Tea, who wasn't helping matters by ignoring him. She still hadn't looked up from her plate, but as Seto glanced at her, he realized her face was flushed deep pink. _Why is her face so red? _He found himself wanting to touch her face to feel the heat of her blush against his fingers. With that thought, he felt blood rush to his own face with the triggered memories from the previous night. Unbidden, his eyes were drawn to the stool still sitting in front of the window. He felt his breath catch in his throat and heard a soft gasp. His gaze shot back to Tea; who was staring openly at him. Their eyes locked, azure eyes clashing, both sharing a moment of remembered passion. _She's blushing because of __**me. **_Seto licked his lips and swore he could still taste her. Tea gasped again at the action. Her eyes glazed with heat and her lips parted, as though she could taste him as well. Seto felt his heartbeat kick up, the rest of the room seemed to fall away, and he stepped toward her.

At that moment, Mokuba ran past Seto to join the others, laughing and attacking his own plate of pancakes. Seto jolted out of the spell he was under and saw Tea shake herself as well. She looked at him again, seeming shocked and confused, then shoved her chair back noisily from the table and practically ran from the room.

Seto shook his head and looked around; expecting everyone to be staring after Tea wondering what had gotten into her. But they all just continued eating and laughing and joking together. Angry, he wanted to shout at them. _Ungrateful idiots! You're all supposed to be her friends! She takes care of all of you and you don't even notice when she's upset!_ He felt an uncharacteristic surge of protectiveness for the girl. Telling himself it was just out of respect for her loyalty, Seto still clenched his hands into fists and wanted to pummel all of them into dust.

"Hey Kiaba! You gonna eat those pancakes?"

Seto's vision dimmed. _That's it, Wheeler. _Without a word, Seto walked around the table, grabbed the front of Joey's shirt, lifted him off his feet, and slammed his fist straight into the moron's face. Seto felt Joey's nose breaking under his assault and saw blood rushing down his face. He knew he needed to leave before he did more damage to the kid. He dropped Wheeler back on his ass on the floor and started to walk out of the room. Tristan must have gotten over the shock of Seto's actions just then because he jumped over a chair and swung his fist at Seto's face. Seto caught his hand and twisted his arm behind his back at a painful angle.

"Don't."

The single word, growled out, must have convinced Tristan that Seto was not in a mood to play. Seto could feel the snarl on his face and knew that he was close to breaking the arm he held. It would be so easy, really, to let out his rage and teach these pathetic morons a hard lesson. But he wouldn't. Seto Kaiba would not lose control of himself, especially not in front of these worthless slobs. Shoving Tristan away from him, Seto stalked out of the galley, leaving a roomful of people shocked into utter silence behind him and nearly colliding with a lovely one just outside the door.

Sooo…..how was that? A little different for me, but I actually enjoyed the image of Kiaba punching Joey. :) Please review and check back for more updates!


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I am again humbled by the kindness of reviewers. Thank you so much everyone! This is the finale of this story and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It does get suggestive, but nowhere near graphic.

I own very few things, and YuGiOh is not one of them. :(

Seto Kaiba nearly plowed into the object of his current distraction as soon as he stalked out of the galley. His hands came up instinctively to catch her as she stumbled back from him. He met Tea's wide eyes with his own, taking in her surprised reaction to his violence in the galley with her friends. _Oh great_. _Here comes the friendship speech, even though they were being dill holes_. Seto tensed as he waited for her to lay into him and tell him off.

She didn't.

Seto watched as her cerulean eyes filled with tears; her full bottom lip quivered. _What? Why is she crying? Where's the yelling?_ He felt extremely uncomfortable with this situation. So he decided to do what he did best when uncomfortable.

He tightened his hands on her upper arms where he'd caught her before and gave the girl a sharp little shake. He leaned down, invading her space, nearly touching her nose with his and staring intensely into her eyes.

"Snap out of it, Gardener."

Her lip stopped trembling as her mouth fell open.

"He's gone. Get over it."

Seto knew she needed to hear it, knew she needed for someone to make her see. He should have done it gently, comfortingly. But then, that sort of thing wasn't really Seto Kaiba's forte. He'd gotten a reaction from provoking her last night, managed to get a response born of anger. And her anger was fine by him. Hell, he welcomed it.

Tea pushed at his chest with her palms but didn't manage to budge him. She narrowed her eyes and started to let him have it.

"Kaiba, you..."

"Hey, Kaiba! Get your hands off her!"

Seto turned to see Yugi standing in the doorway, fury etched on his young face. _What's up his ass?_ Sure, Seto had just manhandled his buddies, but there was no way Yugi could believe that Seto would hurt a girl, especially not this one. He might be a bully at times, but only to those who asked for it and only to those who could fight back. Hell, Yugi's own friends used to pick on the smaller kid mercilessly. Seto had never done that. _ So what's his problem?_

Then it dawned on him. Seto had never really paid much attention to the interactions between the nerd herd, but everyone knew that Yugi had quite a crush on Tea, though he'd never seen them act as anything other than friends. And from the way Yugi's light purple eyes glared at up them now, it was obvious that Seto's hands on Tea and their proximity was an offense. Seto smirked. If Yugi thought this was bad, perhaps he needed to witness a bit of what he'd missed last night. Rather than moving away, Seto straightened and actually stepped closer to the girl, so close that his white coat tails enfolded her and his hold on her became almost an embrace. It was a possessive gesture; one Tea did not seem to quite welcome, but to his surprise, neither did she back away. _That's interesting._

"Kaiba..."

The growled warning in Yugi's voice made him seem nearly as threatening as his former alter ego. _Not that it means much to me._ But it was impressive coming from the small boy. _Impressive, but still annoying._ Regardless of the situation, however, Seto respected Yugi enough to treat him better than his moron friends, which is the only thing that kept Seto from picking the runt up and chucking him back into the galley. Just as he was opening his mouth to tell Yugi to shove off, Tea surprised him again.

"Yugi, I'm fine. Go back in there and take care of Joey and Tristan."

"B-but...Kaiba..."

"Is having a conversation with me. Go."

Yugi's mouth opened and shut like a fish. It was apparent that he didn't want to leave her with Kaiba, but her tone and the firm expression on her face must have convinced him to obey. He shot daggers at Seto with his eyes and went back into the room. Seto ignored him. He was too busy trying to figure out why she had elected to stay with him rather than going back with her friends. He looked down at her and found her staring at her hands, which still rested on his chest. The heat from her palms singed his skin, even through the shirt he wore. He was certain that she could feel his heart pounding beneath them. The air seemed suddenly thick, charged with awareness.

_What is she thinking? Does she want to kiss me again, even half as much as I want to kiss her? Is she still tasting me? _ Heaven knew, Seto could still taste her. Needing to see her, to have that connection with her again, he slid his hand up her arm and over her shoulder, pausing momentarily to caress her delicate collarbone, and tipped her chin up. He watched the play of emotion on her face; shock, annoyance, confusion, and a still lingering grief overshadowed by raw sensuality. Tea's eyes met his and the heat of her gaze burned him all the way to his soul. _Damn, does she have to look like that? _Seto felt like he could fall into those eyes and never find his way back. Her breathing became heavier, and he knew then that his face must reflect the same desire as hers. It was a temptation neither of them could bear to resist.

Seto watched as Tea parted her soft, pink lips and drew the tip of her tongue nervously across them. It was all the invitation he needed. Pulling her against him, Seto dipped his head and brought their lips together. She let out another of those exquisite sighs in his mouth, sending a delicious shiver down his back. Her hands slid up his chest, measuring the breadth of his shoulders, then locked around his neck. As he deepened the kiss, the world seemed to drop away. He didn't know why she was here with him, why she was kissing him, and he didn't care. He didn't care that she had no reason to be with him, didn't care that she was probably still grieving for someone else, didn't care that her friends hated him and could catch them making out in the hallway at any moment. All he could think of was the tiny dancer pressing against him, captivating his thoughts and lighting his soul on fire. Her spirit, her fire, her undying loyalty and devotion. She was under his skin in a way that was almost frightening. Given his obsessive personality, Seto knew he'd be forever changed by her touch, that he'd never be able to give her up. He may not have been searching for her, but when Seto Kaiba saw something he wanted, he took it. With that thought foremost in his mind, he lifted her into his arms without breaking their kiss and walked down the hall to his room, where he could spend the rest of the night proving that Seto Kaiba was a force of nature unto himself.

Many hours later, Seto lay in the darkness of his bedroom on the edge of blissful sleep. Tea slept peacefully, beautifully, against his side. Her head was pillowed on the muscles of his chest, her small hand back over his heart, her slim legs entangled with his. They hadn't made love; he knew she probably wasn't ready for that. Instead, he'd kissed and caressed every inch of her lovely body over her clothing, silently worshipping her, imprinting the scents and tastes of her on his body and in his bed. Seto sighed deeply. He felt...content. Carefree. Happy. He didn't know what tomorrow would bring; what the future held for him, for them. All he knew was that he would remember this feeling always...for the rest of his life.

Thanks all for reading. Hopefully, the story has come full circle for y'all, as it has for me. Much love and thank you all again for the incredible support and encouragement. I'll be posting a new story soon hopefully. Make sure to look for it! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!


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